So after my breakfast of one donut, I was pretty hungry for lunch. We made our way up to 125th on the 4/5 and hoofed it a few avenues to Malcolm X boulevard and Fishers of Men. Harlem is hoppin’ on warm days in the winter. There were a LOT of people on the street and we decided it was because of the unemployment. I have been trying to figure out where money comes from, and this place doesn’t really give any clues to its whereabouts.
We had the Fish and Chips with Shrimp (above) and a Chili Cheese Hot Dog (below). Julia Child reviews the hot dogs from X as the best hot dogs in the world. I never knew Julia Child was such a prolific food critic, but maybe she endorsed a few hot dogs in her day. You don’t come here for the hot dogs, anyway; you come here for the fish. It didn’t disappoint. To start, the tartar sauce was excellent – not too lemony. I have a feeling it was made with miracle whip, but I’ll let that slide. The fish was lightly fried with just the right amount of seasoning. Christine had said that the shrimp needed more seasoning, and I would probably agree to that, but once you put on the hot sauce …
When I worked as a mortgage sales rep in Virginia, I ordered these “Bang Bang Shrimp” from Bonefish Grill (pic – link). If you’ve ever had them, you’d know exactly the ones I’m talking about. Fried shrimp in a spicy mayo sauce – they’re orgasmic. I mixed the mayo and the hot sauce together, dipped one of the fried shrimp in and went to foodie nirvana right in Harlem. I didn’t think I was weighing myself down with fried food when I was eating the shrimp – the shrimp here feels more like a tempura.
If you have ever been to the hood, they offer hot sauce with everything that’s fried. I don’t understand hot sauce with my fried chicken, but I’m going to try it the next time I get some now that I’ve tried it with the shrimp. I really wasn’t expecting to like it this much. I figured that if I’ve tried goat eye I had to try hot sauce on fried stuff.
An employee at Starbucks was talking with a co-worker raving about this awesome fish fry he had earlier that day, I asked him where he got it and he told me a different address. He didn’t remember right away where he got it. After a few minutes, he leaned over the counter and told me “Fishers of Men.”
Everyone’s a bit of a foodie.
Before our experience:
Guest Writer: Christine Kim … Here’s her post
The IRL Arts Foundation and The Wandering Foodie thank Fishers of Men for providing this meal.
Fishers of Men
121 W 125th St
New York, NY 10027
(212) 882-1294
